So the replies are in and you’ve received offers from not one, but two of your preferred choices of university. Bravo! Well done! Excellent! You should be very proud of yourself.
Now what?
Soon after the revelry of acceptance wears off, you find yourself straddled with a case of potential future FOMO. You’re worried, and rightly so. Which is the right choice for you? Here are a few questions to ask that should (hopefully) help you in making your choice.
Revisit your “why?”Whether you applied to increase your chances at employability, learn new skills or just live a different experience, ask yourself which university best caters to your top priority.
If you have not properly examined why you are applying to university in the first place, now is the time to do so. If you need help, you can refer to this article here.
Consider Everything
There are many factors involved in picking a university, finances being one of the most important. Unfortunately, education has become so expensive in so many parts of the world that the potential ROI has to be considered. Is one university better value for money? Other issues not to underestimate are the presence of family and friends, proximity to home, and the weather (if you are badly affected by it especially).
Other questions to ask yourself include:
- Where do you want to live?
- Who do you want to meet?
- Where would you like to party?
- Where do you rather be on a cold, wet and dreary Tuesday afternoon in February? (This is a deceptively simple, yet effective question).
Get Out of Your Own Head
Talk about your choices with someone. Sometimes just talking about an issue helps clarify things in our head.
Shut Out the Noise
Many people will be more than happy and willing to impart their own experiences and share their opinions. But this is their point of view. What’s yours?
What is your gut telling you?
Sometimes our bodies are better able to make choices than our heads. Breathe, take a walk, sleep. What do you hear? What if you get another letter tomorrow rescinding the offer, how would you feel? Disappointed or relieved?
There is no wrong choice.
Whichever place you choose to go, it will be the repository of new experiences, new learnings and continual growth. This is a new stage in your life, take it, lean into it and embrace it with all the good and the bad that it may bring. The future, as Doris Day famously sang, is not ours to see.
